h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: A Felons' Right to Bare Arms - A74923068
Author: jzzyprin93 - U14600827

Please read and comment. Thanks

I think everyone has the right to bare arms.

The right to bear arms, now that's a different matter.

What worries me about the bearing arms debate is what it says about the view the gun lobby takes of society.

They seem to think that there is a violent maniac waiting to assault them round every corner. Is this true?

When I used to work in central London, I saw plenty of people who were the worse for drink or drugs, I saw beggars, demonstrators and strikers. Yet I never came to any harm myself.

Statistically, I think you're more likely to get killed in a road accident than you are to be murdered.

When I opened this one, I expected a joke. I think most people did.

The word is 'bear', not 'bare'. I thought you would be talking about prison tattoos.

Oh, what problems the Second Amendment has caused. Think about it. The Constitution was written in 1787. In a country where many people lived, not in cities, but in an untamed wilderness. Where firearms were necessary, not to kill your neighbour with, but to defend yourself against catamounts (that's PANTHERS, wash your mind out) and bears. Lots and lots and lots of bears. And to get food, because Kroger's wouldn't be open yet for another hundred years or so.

This amendment should not be used to turn this place into a shooting gallery. It should not guarantee the right of people to pack machine guns and rocket launchers...

It is no longer necessary to hunt, but I'll yield to my brother-in-law on this - when we were all younger, he shot a deer every winter to feed his family. That meat went into the freezer. He's an animal lover, but they were broke, and he loves his family, too.

It is not necessary for everybody to go armed in order to protect themselves against one another. This is asking for more trouble. My dad, who grew up hunting out of necessity and shot quite a few people (which he's sorry about) during World War II (but they were shooting at him, too), gave up hunting after that. He did try to shoot a ground hog in his pyjamas once (actually, the ground hog was in his garden, not his pyjamas), but missed, for which my mom was grateful.

I think that once you've shown a propensity for violence, you shouldn't be let near a gun. The poor 18-year-old boy that we (the jury) had to send to jail for life wouldn't have been in that mess if city kids couldn't get hold of 9 mms that easily.

We need to deal with fear differently.

Note to Europeans: In spite of the horrible habit your governments have of imitating everything that happens over here - DON'T LET THEM MESS THIS UP. A society that is not armed to the teeth is safer.

Want to fight a duel? Nerf bats at three paces. Please.

As to this as a piece of writing - remember, this is the Writing Workshop - I'd say expand it. Don't limit yourself to stating your opinion. Go back, use sources, and analyse the Second Amendment, its history and varying interpretations. Go into the question of the rights of ex-convicts.

Voting, for instance. Now THAT'S an interesting question...

My bad for the typo.

Proofreaders are us.

Since we're a writing workshop, we are less interested in content - well, okay, lots of opinions - and more interested in style, how to convey the meaning, etc.

It would be good if you could work this up into a full-blown essay.

are you doing okay?

Exhausted. But okay, thanks.